The body... wasn't there.
The police didn't arrest me, because of that...
but I didn't know whether to feel happy about it.
...Just like Satoko had said... I'd... failed to kill her uncle.
...The body wasn't there, so I was forced to conclude as much—no matter what strange natural disaster, coincidence, or miracle it might have implied.
In order to free Satoko... I..... became a demon.
And this abnormal world was my reward... Yes, metaphorically, I had fallen into the demon world.
But if that price had been in exchange for the life of Satoko's uncle, then that would have been fine.
...Since Satoko's uncle was still alive, still shackling her to him... I needed to become a demon once again.
......One more time.
...No, as many times as it took.
...I would kill that man over and over again until Satoko was liberated.
...I had already awoken.
...I looked at the clock to see that it was early in the morning, at just about five.
It was already light outside.
Once I'd hardened my resolve to become a demon again...
I could feel my whole body teeming with the awakened power once more.
Time wasn't an issue.
No matter what... I'd do it.
I got myself up.
...The exhaustion from the past two days was completely swept away, and I didn't even feel sleepy anymore, either.
I slowly rose and made sure my body was moving like I wanted it to.
I could feel blood flowing through each and every one of my fingers.
...As I got dressed, I let my mind wander... and had a strange thought.
These two days... while I've said it was for Satoko's sake, the only thing on my mind has been killing.
I've said it was for Satoko... but while actually carrying out the act, I had completely forgotten about Satoko, albeit only temporarily.
...Maybe, initially, it was for Satoko's sake.
But now, I... I was just a demon, killing for the sake of killing.
And as a result, I'd sunk into a world fit for such a demon.
...Maybe... it was the same for Satoshi.
He resolved himself to kill his aunt to save Satoko... became a demon... then disappeared from the sunlit Hinamizawa... vanishing into the demon world.
...Which meant that, after all was said and done, I'd met the same fate as him.
...I'd tried to avoid making the same mistakes, but it happened anyway.
...Which meant...... that maybe Satoshi was here.
Satoshi had come to this world a year before me... so he would be here somewhere.
Then... surprised... I stopped walking.
...There was the second set of footsteps I'd grown so used to hearing.
".........Are... could you... be Satoshi...?"
The empty, lifeless air wouldn't give me an answer.
...But I felt a strange kind of relief... that there was someone there... that Satoshi had stuck with me the whole time.
...Let's go, Satoshi.
...Once more.
...This time, we will set Satoko free for sure.
I quietly slipped out of the house so my parents wouldn't notice.
If they caught me now when I'd been out way too late for two days now, they'd give me a really angry talking to.
...I didn't have the time to allow for that to happen.
Today... I would put an end to it.
If the dead body disappeared, then I didn't have to bury it—I could just burn it to ashes... and then take them with me, so I could kill him again every time he resurrected.
I'd do it again.
...I'd kill him again.
...And this time, I'd set her free.
Outside... the morning light was so beautiful as to stagger belief...
I went to the storage room... to find weapons with which I could kill him for sure.
...Blunt or not, it didn't matter to me.
Right now, I didn't need to care whether someone saw, or if the police came.
This world had gone crazy, after all.
A world where I'd shown up at the festival and had fun, even though I wasn't there.
...Even if the police arrested me, I'd probably end up going right back home as if nothing had happened.
......Both me and that other "Keiichi Maebara."
Even without me, he'd fill in.
...I could vanish from Hinamizawa without anyone noticing.
...So basically... I didn't care if I was mistakenly killed.
Even if I died, "Keiichi Maebara" would remain.
...After all... this isn't the world I belong in.
...If I was going to be killed mistakenly for Satoko's sake, then that was just part of my duty as her Nii-Nii.
...As those desperate thoughts became serious... the morning air felt more refreshing to me, strangely enough.
"...Oh, this one's... scary.
...Let's go with this."
It was... a hatchet meant for chopping thick firewood.
...Its hefty steel blade was sinister, almost as though it was a tool meant for killing people.
I couldn't exactly take it out in public like that, so I wrapped it a little in some old newspaper and tossed it into the basket on my bike.
"...Sorry for using you for evil all the time.
...I'll need you again today, my legs."
I apologized to my bike for some reason.
...For the past three days, I've only used it for dangerous things.
I'd been riding this bike ever since I lived in my old town.
I could walk most places I wanted to go, so I hadn't used it all that much.
My mom had bought it for me when I entered cram school... thinking it would be a convenient way to get to the station, since it was far away.
...So I'd always used it to get back and forth from cram school.
I'd only ever put textbooks and class materials in the front basket, too.
...I'd never tried to put a hatchet that I'd be using to kill someone in here.
...When I came to Hinamizawa, life finally felt fun.
I met the best friends ever, and had some of the greatest times ever.
...Those times... might have been shattered now, but...
...It was my greatest wish that I could get them back, even if I had to risk my life to do it.
...That's how fun those times had been.
I killed someone.
...And now I was at it again, needing to kill someone.
Murder was a crime.
...I didn't believe that people should ever think murder was okay.
But... still.
...The times I'd had were enjoyable enough for me to commit such a crime.
My friends were irreplaceable, and the time spent with them a treasure.
...Hanging out, laughing, sometimes tricking each other, but always in a friendly way.
I didn't fear committing any crime, as long as it was for the sake of taking back those times that gave my heart so much pleasure.
Yes.
This was a value I'd decided to uphold.
...It wasn't something I learned from a school teacher.
...It was a noble path... that I chose for myself.
I thought back to when I'd first come to Hinamizawa.
About how on the very first day, Satoko had welcomed me via a blackboard eraser with a rock in it.
...That 'welcome' really surprised the heck out of me.
She would laugh, get angry, cry—she was never boring.
...She was obviously the most child-like one among us, but she was actually lively, full of vim and vigor, and good at meddling in other people's business.
That went for Mion, Rena, and Rika-chan too.
Wasn't Satoko the one at the center of everyone's laughing and banter?
Satoko would try to look cool.
Then Mion would make fun of her endlessly.
Then Satoko would cry, which would put Rena in a state of ecstasy.
Rika-chan would be greatly delighted.
...And I happened to get mixed up in it.
...We would always fool around like that.
...It was lonely when someone wasn't around, but if I had to name one for whom it was the worst... it would have been Satoko.
...Her smile was everyone's smile.
Ever since she stopped smiling, so did the rest of us.
And for the rest of us, not smiling... was the same as dying.
...It was just like when I was silently going to cram school every day, just to maintain my unchanging test scores.
So... basically, we were nothing when she wasn't smiling.
She was full of hot air, but she was our princess, cute and unhateable.
...In that case, I was her knight, searching for the dragon's castle in order to win her smile back.
"...Knights, of course, use swords.
The awesome two-handed kind!
...I'm probably the only knight in the history of the world... to be taking someone on with a thick, rusty hatchet."
Then I saw an old person in the ridge of a field waving to me.
"...Oh, my!
Keiichi-kun!
Out for a morning ride, I see!"
"Good mooorning!!"
I reflexively waved back in a refreshing way.
...Should I really have been... feeling so happy, waving like that?
Satoko's house would be right past this road, going beyond the rice paddies.
The cicadas had woken up too... and the next thing I knew, I was the audience to their daily chorus.
...I gave myself a hit or two in the head... and drove away my merry morning mood.
I took a deep breath... then tilted my head back... quelling my pointless excitement...
...The body... wasn't there.
Its absence... either meant my killing him had been an illusion, or that I'd killed him and he'd risen from the dead.
...If I was at the festival... then maybe I should have considered it an illusion.
...Coach probably thought that way, which is why he treated me like a lunatic.
...But it being an illusion... was just impossible.
I killed him without a doubt.
...Without a doubt.
If that had been an illusion... then that would make all of this Hinamizawa I was in right now an illusion.
...If that was the case, then here's how it would end up.
...I was actually in a vegetative state due to a traffic accident, and I was currently dreaming in a hospital bed... about how great it would be to spend time with friends in rice paddies like these.
...That was a terrifying thought, though.
...If this wasn't an illusion... then the only possible answer was that he'd resurrected.
...It would make him a literal monster.
But... if he was such a monster... then I was no less than a monster myself.
...I didn't hesitate to kill someone, and... I could even wield curses.
Takano-san had died probably because I'd cursed her.
...Or maybe that was a little much.
...If Coach and Ooishi died too, like I'd cursed them to yesterday, then I'd believe it.
I set my bicycle aside... and went to take a look.
His motorbike wasn't here.
...Of course it wasn't.
...I sent it down to Hell that night, throwing it into the Onigafuchi swamp.
......Or maybe...
just like how the corpse wasn't here... maybe the motorbike didn't get thrown into the swamp either...?
The fact his bike wasn't here... might have been because he had gone to town and hadn't come back, not necessarily because I'd thrown it into the swamp.
...If her uncle wasn't around, then that was convenient on its own.
...Then I would just show myself in, then wait for him to return, sharpening my hatchet.
...If... if he was there.
.........Forgotten sensations came back to my gut.
...A feeling of tension rose within me.
...The sensation was like poison, dulling my actions... but it could also be the trigger to allow me to awaken to my superhuman, otherworldly self.
I held the hatchet, still wrapped in newspaper.
...Its weight in my hands was profound, sinister, and reliable.
...I hadn't put on my watch, so I didn't know what time it was... but it was probably still a little before seven.
Satoko would probably be awake, preparing breakfast and her lunch.
...But her uncle would probably still be lazing around in bed.
A guy like him probably would have stayed up late drinking, and probably always slept until noon.
...I considered ringing the doorbell and having Satoko open the door for me... but if her uncle woke up at the sound, I'd waste my chance of him still being asleep.
If Satoko saw me sneaking inside without ringing the doorbell... she'd be surprised.
...If I ran into her... what would I say?
I've come to kill your uncle for you, so stay quiet.
...No, I couldn't do that.
...That would be like making Satoko responsible for his death.
...Be quiet and go wait outside.
...Maybe that would do it.
How would... Satoko react to that?
...She would probably... try and get me to give up on killing him.
......I would have to lie somehow to get her to go outside.
...Satoko didn't need to know that a murder was going to occur in this house.
...I couldn't quite think of a good lie to tell her... but I couldn't do much just standing around like this.
I made up my mind... and grabbed the doorknob...
Then slowly... turned it...
and... pulled.
......It wasn't locked.
...The gap between the door and the wall steadily grew larger.
...The chain wasn't even on.
The oppressive smell of life in Satoko's house hit me.
...At the entrance... there were a few pairs of shoes and sandals.
...I couldn't tell whether he was here or not just by looking at them.
...I could hear a television on somewhere.
The television... was in the messy dining room.
...There was food scattered about the table... giving an impression decidedly different from a 'happy family's meal time.'
...Meals were for eating food while thanking the person for making it.
...Meaning whatever occurred in this dining room wasn't a meal.
Nobody in sight.
...No sign of anyone, either.
...But with the television on... he must have been close.
...Could he have anticipated my coming and be hiding, waiting for me...?
...The tension I felt was so thick, so tight that I thought it would choke me.
The newspaper wrapping the hatchet's thick blade didn't hamper its power at all.
...I tightened my grip on it, then, very carefully, took a look around...
Where had those peaceful feelings from before I arrived here gone?
...Even the sound of sweat bubbling up on my brow... got on my nerves...
And then... I looked at the table and realized something.
...This wasn't breakfast.
The grains of boiled rice were all hard and dried up.
...Then... was it last night's dinner...?
I left the dining room, keeping vigilant... went down the hallway, and found the stairs to the second floor.
...When that man was playing with his friends, he looked out of a second story window.
...It was highly possible that room was his own, and that he slept there.
I tiptoed up the edges of the stairs... quietly, quietly climbing... without making a sound.
...I couldn't hear any kind of snoring.
...I didn't hear anything up there.
I went through a few rooms... slowly and quietly opening the paper doors... checking inside...
...but I still couldn't find anyone around.
To search more efficiently... I got down on the floor and pressed my ear right up to it.
...I could hear... the television in the dining room... and a low hum, perhaps of boiling water.
...It was then... that I started to harbor some feelings of suspicion.
This house... wasn't right.
It seemed like people had been here, since the TV was on... but it wasn't normal for nobody to be around this early in the morning.
I silently descended the stairs... and went back into the dining room.
I looked at the food scattered about.
......Completely dried up rice.
An overturned bowl of miso soup.
The package for a side dish bought at the super market.
...I could tell Satoko had definitely been the one who made this.
...The food was far from Mion's perfection or Rena's gentleness... but it was sincere.
...Judging by how she cooked for me at my house... and from the type and amount of side dishes... I deduced the meal was from last night.
The numbers stamped into the food package read 83-06-20.
...June 20, 1983.
...That was yesterday.
And there was food for two.
...Which meant... that this was last night's dinner, and Satoko's uncle would have been here then.
...Stop it, Keiichi.
...Don't even think about saying the word "impossible" again...
Anyway... her uncle was here last night.
...That much was the truth.
He had found fault with Satoko's food... thrown the bowl of miso soup and flung the rest everywhere.
......Hidden deep within my feelings of calm and composure... was lit a flame of anger and a curse.
......Should I have... ever shown this man any mercy...?
...Bump.
...Nnnnnnnnn...
I heard the sound again—the one from before, like a water boiler.
...What was it coming from?
...The first floor...?
......But where?
......The... bathroom, maybe...?
I could hear the noise coming from the other side of the frosted glass at the far end of the changing room.
...It had to have been the sound of the water boiler for the bath.
...Steam was enshrouding the glass door... and the heat from it was leaking into the changing room where I was standing, too.
...My misgivings deepened.
...People didn't normally take a bath this early in the morning.
If one did...
...then it would mean... that in this house... time had been stopped ever since some moment last night.
Whistle, whistle, whistle...
Was it being reheated?
...The water boiler in the bathroom had been active this whole time.
I checked in a clothing basket... and saw Satoko's familiar uniform stuffed in it.
The uniform had stains and dried rice stuck to it... certainly not something she could wear today.
...It was probably from the miso soup at the dinner table yesterday.
......I looked hard at the frosted glass, but I couldn't see anything through all the steam.
...And then... an electric surge ran through my mind... and a terrible premonition came over me.
Could she.........?!?
She couldn't possibly have been in there since last night—that would be impossible...!!
...But no!
In Hinamizawa right now... nothing was impossible...!!
I gulped audibly... then quietly pulled aside the glass door.
...Hot, steaming air burst out of the slight opening.
...The fan wasn't on in the changing room, so it went completely white with the steam.
...Just as the hot vapor poured into the changing room... cooler air also flowed into the room with the bath.
...And I just heard...
...due to being hit by that air...
a very weak moan...
...That was all I needed... to know who it was.
"...Sa...Satokoooooo!!
.................."
No answer.
Satoko was in the bathtub, surrounded by a thick layer of rising steam.
...The top half of her body was leaning over the edge of the tub... and she was passed out.
The water boiler kept on making a whistling noise, as if angered.
...I could see the gas flame through a small window—it was roaring at full-force, completely blue.
Satoko's entire body... was boiled red... and flaccid, as though her bones had melted away...
She was... almost like a doll... as she laid there unconscious.
I wasn't sure how many seconds passed as I stared in complete bafflement.
...I came back to my senses and promptly shut off the boiler.
Then... I dragged Satoko's small body out of the bathtub.
The water in it... was as hot as the water in public baths.
...Was she in this boiling water... for the entire night...?!
She'll die... she'll die...!!
Satoko's body was lighter than I'd expected as I laid her on the floor and wrapped her in a towel.
I went back into the bathroom and opened up the vent, creating a path for a cool breeze to come through.
...Upon the breeze hitting her... Satoko moaned again...
"It'll be all right, Satoko!!
It's me, Keiichi!
Do you understand?!
Can you hear me?!"
"......Ke...ichi......sa...... hee...... heh..."
Satoko recognized me and muttered a response, but...
I couldn't really tell what she was saying.
Her eyes were muddy and unfocused—I could tell she wasn't completely conscious.
...Upon closer inspection... her limbs and waist were twitching slightly.
...This was... way worse than normal overheating...
This was dangerous—didn't they call this heatstroke...?!
...Think... What would the teacher do... if a girl passed out in the middle of summer... during a marathon in gym class or something...?!
I turned the water faucet in the kitchen all the way on and soaked a towel in it.
...I then took the cold towel and pressed it to Satoko's forehead.
...Satoko reacted harshly to the coldness and let out a muffled voice.
For burns... right, you would soak the burned spot under running water...
Then... could I run cold water in the shower and cool her off like that?!
...No... If it was that sudden... it wouldn't be good for her heart, and she'd go into shock... I think I read that once before...
...Agh... ah...... This... was about as much nursing as I could possibly give her.
...Anything more than this... would be too much... for the likes of an amateur...!!
"......What happened, Satoko...?
You're all right now.
...I will... your Nii-nii will save you for sure..."
".........five thousand thirty-nine...
...five th—*cough*! ...forty... hah...... hah......!"
...?
What was Satoko... reciting under her breath?
I brought my ear to her mouth to better make out the mysterious, spell-like words she kept saying.
...And at that moment... I understood what they were for...!
"Satoko... you... you're counting?!
...Why...?!"
...People tell little kids... in the bath... to count to a hundred a lot... right...?
...Satoko... was counting like that.
...But... five thousand thirty-nine?!!
"You... you moron!!
How... how long were you supposed to count in your own bathtub?!"
"............Ten... tho..."
...I doubted my ears... and doubted her common sense.
...T-Ten thousand?!
"You're a freaking idiot!!
What kind of dumbass can count to ten thousand?!
There's no way you could do that!!
You'd boil to death before you got that far!!
Why were you...?!?"
".........My... uncle..."
Last night... her uncle flew into a rage at the dinner she'd made, saying it stunk and was inedible.
Satoko didn't understand what on earth he meant.
It wasn't much different than what she usually made for him.
...Maybe he hated the smell of the pickled vegetables she'd bought in particular...
Her uncle then decided the stink was originating from Satoko, and shouted at her that she never, ever took baths.
And then... he put Satoko in the boiling water and told her not to come out until she counted to...
"Ughoooohhhhhhhhhh!!!
I'll kiiill yoooooouuuuuuuuu!!!
Guoahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"
I snapped and exploded.
Raising the newspaper-wrapped hatchet, I stampeded through the house.
...I searched for anything—traces, signs, smells, vibrations, heartbeats.
With a war cry, I raced up the stairs with such force I could have stomped a hole through them.
...Then I found the futon in the room I thought to be her uncle's... and well-aware he wasn't sleeping in it... I bashed it with the hatchet.
Did he run into the closet?!
I'll bust the entire closet down, door and all!!
And if he's not there... maybe there's a secret door!!
Any switches or levers in the walls here?!
I smashed into wall after wall with the hatchet, crushing them.
...Dust rose into the air, and broken pieces scattered about the floor.
I smashed all the glass windows, too, for good measure.
"Woooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! ...Hah... hah... hah...!
............Hah..."
After I'd destroyed everything beyond recognition in her uncle's room... my reason finally kicked in and suppressed my emotions.
Anyway... her uncle wasn't in the house right now.
...I'd have to leave killing him until later...
Right now... I had to do something about Satoko...!!
I went back to the changing room.
...Satoko was still lying limp on the floor.
...There was nothing more an amateur like me could do for her.
...I needed... to take her to the clinic.
...Coach... had treated me like a lunatic yesterday, and tried to lock me up in a mental hospital.
...I never wanted to see his damn face again...
but I still... needed to go to the infirmary one more time.
...I needed to have a doctor look at Satoko...
I thought about putting her in the dirty uniform lying in the laundry basket... but I had no experience dressing someone, so it would be pretty difficult.
...Shit... I don't have time to be wasting here...!
I eventually gave up on clothing her and decided to carry her in her bath towel.
The clinic was close to Satoko's house.
It would be way faster to carry her there than to call 119 and get an ambulance.
I threw the biggest towel I could find over her and prompted her to stand.
"...Can you stand...?
I'll carry you over to the clinic."
"..................Thank... thank you..."
Her words sounded clearer than before.
...She was starting to come back.
I cried tears of relief just knowing she'd improved even a little bit.
Satoko turned over so she was lying on her face... and then... put up a weak struggle to get up on a knee.
I smoothly swept her up and put her on my back.
...The towel I put on her seemed like it was about to fall off.
"...The towel... it hurts..."
"We'll be there soon... it won't be long, so stay strong...!"
It didn't hurt one bit to carry Satoko—she was light, too light.
...The lightness... actually made me uneasy.
Outside, it had gotten hotter, as though eager to attack Satoko...
Fucking cicadas... Why did it have to choose this morning to get so hot out...
I didn't have time to swear at them.
...The clinic... was this way.
Hoisting Satoko on my back, I broke into a trot...